


Only One

by bbydonghyuck



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: High School, M/M, spiderman - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-12 00:33:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17457224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bbydonghyuck/pseuds/bbydonghyuck
Summary: Mark thinks he can join the school newspaper to get closer to Jaemin, thinking he can get away with Jaemin never finding out he’s Spiderman.





	Only One

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first post on here and tbh i popped off with 10k words oof. the idea came from the other markmin spiderman au by adequate so please read their au if you haven’t already!

“You should join the school newspaper,” Jeno suggested, earning a glare from Mark. Jeno held his hands up in defense, “you wanted to spend more time with Jaemin. I was just making suggestions.”

“I know, but the school newspaper? I suck at writing,” Mark adjusted his backpack strap, so his bag wouldn’t drop down to his elbow as they looked at a huge bulletin board filled with different club fliers. 

“All he reports about is Spiderman anyway, so you’ll have something to talk about. You could even give him some inside details!” Jeno said, smacking Mark’s shoulder as if it were the most genius idea ever. 

“You know I can’t do that,” Mark said. 

“I know,” Jeno sighed before making his way out of the school’s side doors.

Mark took one more look at the flyer indicating that the newspaper committee would have its first meeting of the semester this wednesday after school before he scurried after Jeno.

To start from the beginning. Yes, Mark was Spiderman, and no, Mark could not handle watching the love of his life who so happened to be popular boy, Jaemin, gush over how amazing Spiderman was without getting all blushy. Okay, maybe the love of his life was a little too dramatic, but honestly, Mark would die for Jaemin if he had to. But then again, Spiderman would die for anyone who was in any type of harm. 

He wanted so badly to go up to Jaemin and tell him he was Spiderman, but that would be revealing his identity to a literal news reporter. Sure, Jaemin was only a school reporter, but who knows where that type of information will end up. It’s not like he didn't trust Jaemin; it’s just that Mark had an underlying fear that once Jaemin knew who was under the mask, he would no longer have feelings for the so-called amazing Spiderman. 

You see, Jaemin is known as the school’s number one Spiderman fan. Ever since Spiderman whisked him away from almost being hit by a car, Jaemin had vowed to show his gratitude to Spiderman for saving his life through gifts he’d often leave at crime scenes. It first started off with simple water bottles with notes telling him that “every superhero needs to stay hydrated” to snacks telling him to “never skip a meal” to pain medication telling him to “rest well and be safe.” Mark didn’t realize the progression of Jaemin’s feelings for Spiderman until Jeno had pointed it out to him, and frankly, it scared Mark. He didn’t want to disappoint Jaemin, but it didn’t stop him from making one of the most stupid decisions in his life.

“Welcome to the school newspaper! I’m Jaemin, the president, and I will teach you all how to be great reporters and journalists!” Jaemin smiled his breath captivating smile to the room of perhaps eight students. “We’ll mostly cover school related news, but we do also occasionally cover stories from surrounding neighborhoods.”

A student sitting a few seats down from Mark raised their hand, and Jaemin happily pointed to them, “yes?”

“Will we get to meet Spiderman?” 

Mark froze.

“I have only met him twice, so the possibility is very low, but maybe you might!” Jaemin said enthusiastically. “He’s a very busy person, saving the world, so he won’t have much time for interviews. Especially for a school newspaper, sadly.”

Mark saw the smile on Jaemin’s face falter slightly, just for a second, before he turned to the stack of papers of notes he had on the table. It made his heartache slightly that he had never given Jaemin a chance to interview him. There has been plenty of times where Jaemin would approach him for an interview after fighting off the criminals, but Mark would always chicken out, too afraid that he would make a fool of himself or somehow reveal something critical that identified him as Mark Lee. 

Jaemin then had them get on computers and do who knows what. Mark didn’t pay attention to what Jaemin had told them to do since he was too focused on Jaemin’s lips than what was actually coming out of them. Mark randomly typed on his computer hoping to be able to pass under the radar for the remaining thirty minutes, but Jaemin’s face hovering over his shoulder made him freeze.

“Typing ‘the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell’ a hundred times must be the most interesting research article I’ve read today,” Jaemin said.

“I, uh,” Mark jittered. All he could focus on was the proximity of Jaemin’s body to his, and Jaemin’s hand placed on the counter just inches away from where Mark’s hand was on the mouse.

“It’s fine. I wasn’t going to read these anyway,” Jaemin laughed. “I just needed to ask for your number.”

“My number?” Mark stuttered.

“For the group chat,” Jaemin smiled. “Plus, if there’s any Spiderman news I have to contact you all somehow.”

“Oh yeah, sure,” Mark said as he typed in his number into Jaemin’s phone.

“Thanks, Mark. See you next meeting,” Jaemin smiled at him once again and placed his hand on Mark’s shoulder before moving onto the next person.

Mark sat there staring blankly at the page he typed up, trying to process all the things that happened in the last five seconds before realizing he had made a complete fool of himself. He angrily backspaced all the words he had typed then sighed in frustration. 

\-------

Mark always kept his phone on silent, but ever since Jaemin had sent a message through the school newspaper’s group chat, Mark suddenly had his phone on full volume. Maybe it was because he liked seeing Jaemin’s contact appear on his lockscreen or maybe it was because he liked to read the messages he would send.

“Good morning, lovelies. There will be another meeting on Friday!” 

“I’ll be at the ice cream shop near school if anyone needs help with their articles!” 

“I heard many of you had tests today. Don’t worry I’m sure you did well!”

Although these messages were directed towards the whole newspaper committee, Mark couldn’t help but to think Jaemin was speaking directly to him. 

“Dude, you’re whipped,” Jeno laughed, breaking Mark’s attention from the recent text Jaemin had sent to the group chat. 

“I’m just being an active member of the newspaper committee,” Mark remarked.

“An active member of the Jaemin fanclub committee,” Jeno whispered, earning a shove from Mark. 

“Make sure to turn it back on silent tonight!” Jeno called as he walked backwards in the opposite direction Mark was going in.

“I will,” Mark replied.

He didn’t. 

And now Mark was fighting a bank robber while his phone blasted Millionaire by Bruno Mars. Usually his mom would be the one calling him to tell him to hurry home and do the laundry but hearing the ringtone was making him feel guilty for not picking up. While dodging a blow from the man dressed in all black and flinging him across the street, he swiftly took his phone from his pocket and put it to his ear. 

“I’ll be there soon, okay. I’m kind of busy right now,” he said while swinging on a web towards the man he just threw into a lampost. 

“What could you possibly be doing that makes you want to miss seeing Spiderman?” Jaemin’s voice rung in Mark’s ears. Mark was caught so off guard that the man he was fighting was fast enough to get a few blows into his stomach and face. 

“Oh, you know. Stuff,” Mark tried to sound as normal as possible. 

“What’s all that noise in the background?” Jaemin asked.

“That’s just, uh, a cat. Yeah, there’s an alley cat trying to fight me right now for my food,” Mark said, throwing a few more hits at the man before shooting webs around him like ropes, preventing him from moving. “I’ll try and be there as fast as I can. Okay, bye.”

Mark slipped his phone back into his pocket. Yes, the suit surprisingly had pockets. His attention was fully on the man before him now, and he slid off the ski mask placed over the man’s face.

“Won’t be needing this where you’re going,” Spiderman said, patting the man’s bare cheek.

A crowd of civilians had formed around the scene as always, and Mark noticed a group of students on the other side of the street near the initial break in. He instantly recognized Jaemin’s figure within the group; it was the newspaper committee, and Mark began to slightly panic. What if they had heard what Spiderman was saying and could connect the dots that Jaemin was indeed talking to THE Spiderman who also happened to be Mark Lee from their school?

His worries had soon faded once Jaemin and the group came up to him. Some of the students had notepads in hand and were ready to write down anything and everything he said. Jaemin stepped forward and handed him a water bottle which Spiderman gladly took.   
“Superheros have to stay hydrated,” Spiderman and Jaemin said at the same time which caused Jaemin’s eyes to widen. 

“Yeah, I know you. Thank you for all the gifts,” Spiderman placed a hand on Jaemin’s shoulder. “We’re always out here taking care of everyone else, so it’s nice to have someone take care of us sometimes, you feel.”

The students stared at Jaemin for his answer. They were all anticipating what his reaction was to Spiderman saying he knew who he was. For the first time, Mark was able to see Jaemin be the one flustered in front of him and not the other way around. To be fair, Jaemin thought he was a completely different person, but it was a nice change to not be the one acting a fool. 

“It’s nothing,” Jaemin blushed--yes, he blushed, “It’s the least I could do after you saved me that one time. You probably don’t remember but thank you.”

“It’s no problem. It’s my job,” Spiderman said.

“It’s smartwater too, so be smart about those decisions,” Jaemin said, pointing to the water bottle he had gave him.

Spiderman chuckled, “I’ll make sure to keep that in mind, but I really have to go,” Spiderman gave a quick salute with his fingers before shooting his web onto a building and swinging away.

“Take care!” Jaemin called out.

“Will do!” Spiderman called out in return before disappearing into the tall buildings. 

Mark landed on the rooftop of a building a few blocks down where he had hidden his backpack where his regular clothes were. He quickly took off the mask and his suit to change into his other clothes. He didn’t even tie his right shoe before taking off down the flight of stairs to get to where Jaemin and the others were. Who knew after fighting bad guys every day, Mark could still get winded by the stairs?

He ran a few more blocks before reaching the place he was just at not two minutes ago as Spiderman. The police were now in action, attempting to unwrap the criminal from the lampost, while others were investigating the bank with broken windows and scattered glass. 

“I’m here!” Mark huffed, his hair a disheveled mess and his clothes all wrinkled from being wadded up and thrown into his backpack. 

“I’m glad you joined us,” Jaemin teased. “You missed Spiderman though.”

“He even remembered Jaemin!” one of the students, Jisung, said.

“Yeah, it was so cool!” another, Chenle, exclaimed. 

Mark gave them a half hearted smile as he bent over in order to catch his breath. He cracked open the water bottle in his hand and took a large drink, almost finishing most of the bottle. Jaemin stared at Mark intensely as he drank from the bottle to the point where it made him uncomfortable. It then dawned on to him that he was drinking from the water bottle Jaemin had given Spiderman, but right now he was Mark Lee.

“I got this water from the convenience store before coming here,” Mark responded quickly, his nervous breaths disguised as his fatigued pants. “Do you want some?”

Jaemin’s intense glare softened, “so is that what you said was so ‘important’?”

“Yeah, you know. Man’s gotta eat,” Mark said tensely, instantly regretting ever opening his mouth. 

Jaemin laughed before turning to the rest of the group to tell instructions on what to do when trying to report, how to ask questions, when and who to ask questions to, etc. Mark, however, was still cringing at his response to Jaemin’s question. Why couldn’t he be as confident as he was talking to him as Spiderman? How was it possible that with a mask on, he was able to act like a completely different person around Jaemin?

“Now for you, Mark,” Jaemin interrupted his thoughts by placing both of his hands on Mark’s shoulders. “You and Chenle will be interviewing witnesses. Ask them about what they saw and whatnot.”

The same boy from earlier, a small, blonde haired freshman smiled brightly behind Jaemin. He seemed excited to be there, and Mark noticed that he had a Spiderman pin on his school lanyard. Mark slightly smiled at the boy before motioning for him to follow him towards the sidewalks where pedestrians watched the scene behind them. 

“You should’ve seen the way Spider man came in! He went swoosh,” Chenle shot invisible webs from his wrists and jumped onto the sidewalk. “and he even fought the guy while on the phone!”

Mark laughed at the younger boy’s antics. This was probably one of the best things that came with being Spider man, other than saving people of course. He would always get little kids and even adults telling him they idolized him, and in a way it gave Mark the motivation to keep fighting even though the work from school can pile up onto his Spider man duties. 

“And he knows Jaemin!” he exclaimed. “I wonder if I’ll ever be able to meet him.” 

“Maybe one day you will. He’d be happy to meet someone like you,” Mark smiled at Chenle. 

They did a few interviews here and there, but they were all pretty much the same. That’s probably what’s best: accurate information, but Mark was getting bored. Even Chenle lost some of his enthusiasm. They both sat on the curb and watched the crime scene before them slowly return back to normal. In the time they had spent together, Mark had learned quite a bit about the cute little freshman sitting next to him. Chenle was originally from China but recently moved to the city because of his parents work. He struggled with the language, but he managed to score one close friend, Jisung, who was out running around with Jaemin doing who knows what. He was a big fan of Spiderman. He wanted to meet and shake his hand one day, and possibly—probably not but his heart could hope as he put it—get a ride swinging through the buildings. Mark told him about himself as well but didn’t want to reveal too much, so he would mostly just as Chenle questions about himself. 

“I think it’s about time we wrap things up,” Jaemin told Chenle and Mark. “They’re going to open the barricades to let traffic through again.”

Chenle and Mark rose to their feet, and Chenle tried chugging the rest of the water from Mark’s water bottle before attempting to shoot it into the trash can a few feet down the sidewalk. It ended up bouncing off and rolling onto the street, but Chenle didn’t seem as if he would pick it back up. 

“C’mon, man. The recycling bin was literally right next to it,” Mark said, jogging up to the water bottle and throwing it into the green bin. 

“So you’re really into saving the planet I see,” Jaemin laughed. 

Without noticing, Jaemin and Mark began to trail behind the group of newspaper committee students that were heading back to the school library to type up reports about today. Chenle had long forgotten Mark and was now back to his energetic self with Jisung. 

“I just don’t want the planet to die, I guess,” Mark chuckled nervously. 

“You should join the Green Club with me at school! We do the school’s recycling and everything, but we’re also planning on planting a garden,” Jaemin smiled, only making it harder for Mark to turn down his offer. 

“I don’t know. I’m very busy…” he trailed off, scratching his arm. 

“With going to the convenience store?” Jaemin teased. 

“Yeah—I mean no. I just have a lot of school work and my mom keeps nagging me about chores and yeah,” Mark tried to make excuses. At least the school work thing wasn’t a lie. 

“You’re in all those smart people classes, right? Maybe you can help me with physics. I swear the teacher hates me,” Jaemin sighed. 

“No one hates you. I haven’t met anyone that does,” Mark said. He instantly panicked not wanting Jaemin to feel uncomfortable around him again. 

“I’m glad you think that, but i have a lot of enemies. 

They just hide it with kindness,” Jaemin vented. He quickly added, “It’s pretty obvious though. They reek of fake.” 

Mark stopped in his tracks, “and what about me? What do I reek of?”

Jaemin hummed in thought for a second, racking his eyes up and down Mark’s body. Quite frankly, Mark had only asked him to lighten the mood, but now he was slightly curious as to what Jaemin would say. Not only that, but having Jaemin’s eyes all over him made him want to shrink into a corner. 

“I say you reek of Red Bull, not enough sleep, and on the verge of giving up, so you don’t have time to hate me,” Jaemin said, a small smile forming on his lips.   
Mark let out a puff of air that was meant to be a laugh but not quite there, “It’s like you know me already.”

Jaemin shrugged, “It’s a superpower.” 

Oh, the irony.

“So do you think you can find a few minutes in your busy schedule to tutor a struggling student in physics?” Jaemin bent to the side so he could see Mark’s face, which was looking down at the sidewalk as they walked, a twinkling smile on his lips. 

“I’ll try and fit you in somewhere,” Mark teased.

“Great! Text me the times you’re free,” Jaemin said.

They had made it to the front of the school gates, the other students long gone inside the building. Mark stopped in his tracks and scratched the back of his neck as he watched a flock of birds fly onto a powerline. He really did want to spend more time with Jaemin even if it meant forcing himself to write an article about himself that he didn’t necessarily want to write, but he already had spent too much time with the newspaper committee. The Spiderman suit in his bag burned a hole through his back, screaming at him that he needed to go back. 

“I actually have to go now,” Mark trailed, pointing somewhere behind him. “I’ll make sure to write the article before tomorrow.”

Jaemin slightly sighed, but he couldn’t stop him.   
“Don’t worry about it,” Jaemin said. 

“I’m so sorry,” Mark said before quickly backing up down the sidewalk. 

“Text me!” Jaemin called out.

“Will do!” Mark waved before breaking out into a full on sprint down the block. 

Jaemin stood at the gates of the school watching the boy run into the city landscape. His gaze lingered a bit longer after his silhouette disappeared, eyes slightly squinting in thought as he turned to join the others in the school library. 

\----

“Dude, my sister is going to start noticing her makeup is going missing,” Jeno said as he pat foundation over Mark’s cheek. Mark winced at every pat Jeno made with the little white sponge that came with the makeup. When Mark woke up, he almost decided to leave his room through the fire escape. A giant bruise had formed on his lower jaw where the criminal had punched him the day before, and he just knew he couldn’t walk out of his room knowing his mother would freak out. Luckily, he had some spare surgical masks that covered half of his face, and he claimed that he was “feeling a little sick, so it’s fine mom.” However, he couldn’t enter school gates with the mask on, so he called Jeno in a panic, where he thankfully agreed to sneak some of his sister’s makeup to school.

“Stop getting punched and you wouldn’t even have this problem,” Jeno said before giving his cheek one last pat. 

“There. You look normal and as ugly as ever.” 

“Haha,” Mark said sarcastically. “Can I keep that though?”

“No! My sister is going to kill me if she finds out,” Jeno said, shoving the round packaging deep into his backpack. 

Mark rolled his eyes but didn’t complain. Jeno’s sister could get scary when she was angry, so he understood Jeno’s fears. 

“Are you going to text Jaemin?” he asked as they exited the bathroom.

As if he were summoned by name or something, Jaemin appeared around the corner and smiled when he saw Mark. He waved at them, making Jeno elbow Mark in the side teasingly. Mark elbowed him back, and it only turned into an elbowing war as Jaemin approached them. Mark shoved Jeno one more time before bringing a big smile on his lips. 

“Hi, Jaemin,” he said. 

“Hey, Mark,” Jaemin smiled back. 

Jeno watched them both just stand in front of each other with cheesy smiles on their faces for a solid seven seconds. He coughed which made Jaemin come back to his senses. 

“I wanted to tell you that your article was the best I read last night,” Jaemin said. “Well, this morning I should say.”

“I sent it at 3am. Did you really read it at that time?” Mark laughed, but deep down his heart fluttered slightly at the thought that Jaemin had risked sleep to read his trash article.

Jaemin shrugged and laughed too, “It was different from everyone else’s which was weird since you didn’t actually see Spiderman because you were late. It was like you knew him.”

Jeno stared at Mark with wide eyes, and Mark’s hands began to sweat. Maybe writing an article about yourself in superhero form at 3am when the only thing in your system was an energy drink was a bad idea. 

“I watched a lot of news stories,” Mark laughed nervously. “And my dad works for the police department, so I may know a little more.”

Lies. They were all lies. 

“Really? Maybe you can get your dad to help us get an interview!” Jaemin said.

“Well, you see,” Mark racked his brain for any other excuse that would pop up. “Spiderman doesn’t really like to be interviewed. Not his style, you know?”

“Yeah, not even we could talk to him,” Jeno butted in, trying to aid the conversation that was becoming a disaster. 

Jaemin’s eyes narrowed at them both, but mostly directed at Mark, “so you don’t know Spiderman?” 

Mark shook his head a little too quickly, “sorry, man.”   
Jaemin’s suspicion seemed to linger for a few seconds before he smiled again and wrapped his arm around Mark as the three of them made their way down the hallway. Mark’s heart rate was through the roof, from the idea of almost getting caught or from having Jaemin’s arm around him he didn’t know, but it truly was a close one.

“Any free time today? I have a physics test to study for and honestly I haven’t been paying attention in my class,” Jaemin asked. 

“Uh, I’m free after school for forty-five minutes?” Mark suggested. 

“Just forty-five?” Jaemin pouted. 

Mark’s heart flung backwards into his spine, and he almost tripped on his untied shoelace. He couldn’t believe that the boy had him around his finger. Jaemin could smile and have Mark falling to any of his desires. If he could take a rain check on Spiderman tonight just for Jaemin, he would, but Mark knew that was insensible. 

“Sorry, I have this lab for chemistry that’s like thirty percent of my grade—“

“No, it’s fine. Forty-five minutes is enough. I’ll meet you in the ice cream shop a few blocks down. Is that fine?” Jaemin asked. 

“Yeah,” Mark smiled. “I’ll see you there.”

Jaemin smiled back, and his hand trailed from Mark’s shoulder to his elbow as he turned into a different hallway. The ghost of Jaemin’s touch lingered on Mark’s bicep, raising chills in his spine. 

Most people get adrenaline spikes from working out, or going skydiving, or being in danger. Being Spider man, Mark would assume his adrenaline would be highest while fighting crime, but why did he feel most invincible while he was with Jaemin? The boy took his breath away and made him want to do a somersault off the Empire State Building all in one second. 

“You have a date with Jaemin,” Jeno cooed and poked Mark’s sides teasingly.

“We’re only studying,” Mark said, but he couldn’t fight back the smile forming on his lips.

Throughout the day, Mark had to make frequent visits to the restroom in order to cover up his darkening bruise. Half of his face was now slightly lighter than the other, and he would randomly find smudges of foundation on random parts of his clothing and school supplies. He couldn’t believe he’d have to put up with this for the next few days until the bruise subsided, but at least it was Friday and he’d have the weekend to hide it. Jeno patted a little more foundation onto his jaw before pocketing the makeup.

“I still don’t understand why you can’t just let me borrow it, so we can stop having to come to the restroom with me,” Mark said.

“I very much like living, thank you very much,” Jeno huffed. “And shouldn’t you be thinking about your date? Not my sister’s makeup.”

Mark rolled his eyes and shoved the black haired boy as they walked out of the restroom together. Sure, he was thinking about it. It was the only thing he could think about all day. During his chemistry lab, he had almost poured acid onto his hand because his mind was too busy picturing what it would be like to be sitting across Jaemin at the ice cream parlor, sneaking glances at him as he worked physics problems. 

Mark and Jeno waved their goodbyes as they took off in different directions at the school gates. Jeno headed home while Mark made his way to the ice cream parlor in a nervous wreck; his palms were sweaty and he had to constantly wipe them onto his pants, and racing ‘what if’ questions circled his mind. What if i embarrass myself? What if he thinks I’m weird? What if I say something dumb? He really wanted to leave a good impression on Jaemin even if he knew they wouldn’t ever be more than just friends at most. If only he could be as confident and bold towards Jaemin as he was when he was Spiderman. 

The bell over the door rang signaling that Mark had entered the store, and he immediately was able to spot Jaemin sitting at the corner booth, textbook already open and papers scattered everywhere. Jaemin’s eyes lifted at the sound of the bell to meet Mark’s eyes from across the room. Jaemin smiled and waved him over; Mark awkwardly shuffled over to sit across from Jaemin at the booth. 

“I’m glad you made it!” Jaemin exclaimed. “Do you want any ice cream? My treat.”

“Sure,” Mark said. 

“Flavor?” Jaemin asked.

“Cookies and cream,” Mark smiled and thanked him as he went to order.

Mark unzipped his backpack and took out his notes quickly enough so no one would see the Spiderman suit stuffed under all his notebooks. He set up his notes neatly in front of him unlike Jaemin who had like five different notebooks opened across the table. It seemed like Jaemin didn’t know how to properly study, but Mark would try to help him learn at least something in the next forty-five minutes. 

Suddenly Jaemin slid into the booth next to him with a giant smile on his face as he held out an ice cream cone to Mark. He took the cone in his hands and thanked him with a slight tint on his cheeks. They ate their cones in silence before Jaemin gathered his things in front of him. At first Mark thought Jaemin had only sat next to him to give him the ice cream, but it dawned on to him that he wasn’t going to budge once Jaemin began asking a question regarding a worksheet. Mark tried his best to explain to him what the problem was asking and show him how to solve it, but his mind was distracted at their close proximity, and it didn’t help that Jaemin would stare at him while he explained things instead of the worksheet. 

“The next problem is similar,” Mark suttered. “Try and solve it without my help.”

“Okay,” Jaemin said, shifting his gaze from Mark to the problem in front of him. He placed his arm on the table as he tried filling out the equation with its variables, but it seemed to Mark that Jaemin was trying a little too hard to have their forearms touch as Mark watched him solve the problem. Jaemin couldn’t hide his small smile when he saw the goosebumps lineup Mark’s arm, and Mark was torn between ripping his arm away in embarrassment or pretend like nothing happened just because he wanted to stay this close to Jaemin.

“Can you explain the physics of Spiderman?” Jaemin asked out of nowhere.

“I don’t see that on the worksheet,” Mark said, racking his eyes through the problems.

“I know. I’m just curious,” Jaemin shrugged. “Maybe explaining physics using Spiderman will finally make me learn something. Like how can he swing on something as thin as spiderwebs?” 

Mark coughed but quickly tried to hide his nervousness by resting his head on his hand. He began to draw a line and a circle on the back of Jaemin’s worksheet. 

“Okay, so let’s assume this line is the web and the circle is Spiderman. The forces involved in one of his swings in a parabolic arc are the highest at the bottom of this arc,” Mark continued to give Jaemin a diagram regarding Spiderman’s velocity and the amount of force causing tension on the web as his swings, but Mark could tell Jaemin wasn’t fully paying attention to what he was saying. He could feel Jaemin’s eyes on him as he drew another arc to try to further explain the concept, and Mark was trying to speak carefully so his voice wouldn’t falter him like it usually did around Jaemin. 

“Do you want to go to a party with me tomorrow?” Jaemin cut him off. 

“I’m--”

“Busy. I know,” Jaemin sighed. “You should take a break once in a while. You seem stressed all the time.”

Jaemin turned his attention back to his work leaving Mark to be the one skimming Jaemin’s side profile as he scribbled on his paper. The way his hair fell over his eyes and his nose scrunched when he sniffed, it made him weak. Mark wanted to spend more time with Jaemin, but he couldn’t possibly skip a whole day of his Spiderman duties. He really did want to go to that party, especially since Jaemin invited him himself. That would mean he would spend most of the night with Jaemin if he went. It would just be one night. The city could handle one night with Spiderman, right?

“Oh my god. What happened to your face?” Jaemin gasped.

“That’s a very nice compliment,” Mark hummed.

“No, like what happened to your jaw,” Jaemin said, softly placing his hand on the bruise on Mark’s face that had slowly been revealing itself after Mark leaned his head on his hand for too long.

Mark’s eyes widened, “Well, I--”

Jaemin took one of Mark’s hands in his hand and looked at him softly, “If someone is hurting you, you can tell me okay?” 

Mark chuckled nervously at the sudden touch of affection as he wracked his brain for a convincible lie to tell him, “It’s fine. Jeno and I were playing video games and things got heated, and he accidentally hit me with the control.” 

Jaemin didn’t seem convinced, but he didn’t show any signs of prying any further. He merely turned back to his physics homework and tried solving the next problem. Mark would have turned back to his work as if nothing happened, but Jaemin was still holding his hand, and Mark couldn’t think straight. Pun very much intended. He feared his hands would become sweaty to the point Jaemin was disgusted or Mark would be so tense that Jaemin would let go. 

He watched the boy beside him write numbers on his paper with one hand and run his thumb softly over Mark’s hand with his other. Why was Jaemin suddenly doing this? Mark wasn’t complaining, though; he’d hold Jaemin’s hand all day if he could, but the sudden gesture puzzled Mark. They hadn’t talked much before he had joined the school newspaper, so why was Jaemin being so close? Regardless, Mark wanted to stay with his hand laced with Jaemin’s forever, but the time on his phone told him it was time for him to leave. He tried to push the time out of his mind for a few more minutes as he enjoyed the feeling of Jaemin’s soft hand warming his own. 

“I kind of have to go now, Jaem,” Mark said in a small voice, as if the softer he said it, he didn’t have to leave.  
Jaemin grinned at the nickname Mark had subconsciously gave him, but he let go of Mark’s hand to scoot out of the booth and let the other boy out. Mark quickly packed his things and slid out of the booth as well. 

“Thank you for tutoring,” Jaemin smiled. “Even though I get distracted easily.”

“Good luck on that test,” Mark said.

As Mark was about to turn and make his way out of the ice cream shop, Jaemin grabbed his hand one more time, causing him to pause in his tracks to look back at Jaemin. 

“Are you sure you can’t come to the party with me tomorrow?” he asked one more time.

It was like Jaemin’s hand burned in his, giving him a spark of the different possibilities that could happen at the party with him. His hand was like the snake taunting Eve for the forbidden fruit. Mark wanted so desperately to go to the party with Jaemin, but he knew he shouldn’t. But just as Eve had fallen into temptation, Mark caved in at the sight of the beautiful boy in front of him.

“I’ll go,” Mark smiled shyly.

Jaemin’s smile widened and he tightened his grip on Mark’s hand slightly before letting it fall, “I’ll pick you up then.”

“Okay,” Mark breathed, unaware of the possible consequences. 

It was just one night, right?

\-----

“Are you dumb?” Jeno yelled through Mark’s phone as he swung between buildings. “Spiderman has his duty to the people!”

Mark swung to the top of an apartment complex and rested on the ledge of the roof. He adjusted his mask on his face; he was feeling suffocated underneath it.

“Spiderman deserves a break once in awhile,” Mark shrugged. 

“But crime never takes a break! So you’re telling me if someone was being murdered, you wouldn’t do anything because you’re with Jaemin?” Jeno ranted on and on. Mark kind of zoned out on his rambling as he watched the city skyline. It was midday on Saturday, and it was only a few hours until Jaemin would pick up Mark and take him to the party. He didn’t want to tell Jeno about it because he knew he would freak out, but he could never keep anything from him.

“How about this,” Mark proposed. “I’ll be on the alert, and if anything happens, I’ll excuse myself to the restroom and sneak off then sneak back in like nothing happened.”

There was a silence on the other end of the line, and Mark could practically hear the gears in Jeno’s head turning as he pondered the idea. As Mark waited for Jeno’s response, he saw a lady struggling to carry grocery bags out of her car. It wasn’t anything urgent, but Mark didn’t want to hear if Jeno disapproved of the plan. 

“Unfortunately, I have some very important matters to attend to right now,” Mark said into the silence of the phone before shooting a web onto the building across the street and dropping from the ledge of the roof.

“Wait, Mark--”

“Sorry, bye. I’m fighting bad guys now,” Mark said before hanging up the phone and landing right in front of the lady struggling with paper bags, almost scaring her into dropping the food.

“Thought you needed some help, ma’am,” Spiderman said.

The woman quickly agreed for him to help him carry the groceries. They made small talk; she told him she bought so much because of a family gathering she would be hosting. Mark merely asked if her apartment window was any of the ones in front of the building, and when she pointed toward the fourth floor windows, Mark swung to the windows carrying most of her bags and placed them onto the window sill. The window was already slightly ajar, so he merely weaved the bags onto a table within arms length of the window. He dropped back down and clapped his hands together. The woman was still in shock that the Spiderman was even helping her on the simplest task.

“Nice apartment by the way. The rug really matches the blue walls,” Spiderman complimented before swinging off between the buildings once again, leaving the lady dumbfounded in the middle of the sidewalk. 

Mark once again sat on the roof of a building a few blocks down, leaning his head on his fist and swinging his legs on the ledge. He watched people walk on the sidewalks and people come in and out of shops. Today was a pretty uneventful day for him. So far he’s helped an old lady cross the street, rescued a kid’s cat from a tree, and helped the lady with her groceries. Perhaps crime did sleep for a day, just enough for him to go to the party with Jaemin.

Mark watched as a man finished drinking his soda.  
“Please put it in the recycling,” Mark whispered.  
The man merely crushed the plastic bottle and threw it onto the ground, causing Mark to sigh, “Not even in the trash can.” 

He sighed and swung down to collect the bottle. One of his pet peeves was people not throwing trash where it belonged, even worse: not putting the recyclables in the recycling bin. He picked up the crushed bottle and pointed it at the man who now had his back against the wall out of pure shock that Spiderman was in front of him. 

“You know this is supposed to go into the recycling,” Spiderman told him.

“Aren’t you supposed to be fighting crime?” the man finally got brave enough to bark back, “no wonder this city is filled with crime.”

Spiderman took a few steps closer to the man, which certainly made him shut his mouth and stare at the superhero in front of him in fear, “Littering is actually a $500 fine. If you keep this up, you might get fined $2000 and put into jail for up to 180 days. Plus, think of the turtles.”

“Fine,” the man took the bottle from Spiderman’s hand and threw it into the recycling bin a few feet away, “There. Satisfied? Now leave me alone.”

“Crush the turtle and his family thank you,” Spiderman called out as the man angrily made his way down the street. 

Mark sighed and slumped onto a ledge in front of a building. There were days so boring that he literally would just pop up at a playground and excite the kids there, occasionally playing with them or taking pictures with them. Other days he did stuff like this, pick up other people’s trash.

“Slow day, huh?” A voice said, causing Mark to sit up straight. He almost choked when he saw the boy that would later pick him up standing in front of him. He was carrying a stack of books in one arm and a plastic bag in the other.

“Saving the earth’s oceans is never a slow day!” Spiderman attempted to sound not as lame as he actually did.

Jaemin chuckled and set down his books next to him before digging around in his plastic bag. He pulled out a package of Xtreme Airheads candy and held it out to him, “I don’t know if you like these, but I’d like you to have them.” 

Mark felt his heart warm up. He might be Spiderman right now, but Jaemin was still so caring to literally everyone he met, and it just made Mark’s heart combust. He took the candy in his hands, “I actually really like these. Thank you.” 

Jaemin smiled, “Thank you for not letting the planet die.” He waved at him one last time before continuing on with his day and walking down the sidewalk. 

Mark looked down at the Airheads in his hand and fought back a smile. He couldn’t wait to spend time with him tonight.

\-----

“Jeno, what am I going to wear!” Mark exclaimed to his friend through the phone. Jeno was on some sort of trip for his band competition for the whole weekend, so Mark was practically alone in preparing for the party. 

“Anything you wear is lame, so you don’t even have to try,” Jeno sounded muffled, as if he was eating something. 

Mark looked at himself in the mirror with a blank expression and phone in hand, “Wow, thanks.”   
“Just wear that one hoodie with the spider in the back,” Jeno said.

Mark still didn’t understand why Jeno thought it would be a good idea to give him a black hoodie with a white graffiti spider on the back. It was probably part of Jeno’s dumb humor, but sometimes Mark was scared to even wear it. He knew it was impossible for anyone to pinpoint that he was Spiderman merely because he was wearing a hoodie with a spider on it. Many people wore it as a fashion now that Spiderman has become a famous superhero. There was just that lingering paranoia in him. 

“The band director is getting mad at me for being on my phone,” Jeno said then added quickly, “good luck on your date. Don’t kiss him to much.”

“Jeno--”

The line cut of suddenly leaving Mark in his room in silence. He lazily put on the hoodie Jeno advised him to wear before hearing his doorbell ring. If he wanted to change his outfit, it was already too late. Jaemin was here, and Mark felt like he was going to pass out due to nerves. He stood at the door with his hand on the handle, taking a deep breath before opening the door. As soon as he saw Jaemin’s smiling face, it was as if all his nerves disappeared. He knew he would have a great time with Jaemin. 

“Hey,” Mark said with the stupidest smile on his face.

“Hi,” Jaemin laughed.

They didn’t say anything else as Mark locked the front door and they made their way towards the place where the party was. They walked close to each other, their hands occasionally brushing each other, making Mark want to take Jaemin’s hand out of frustration, but he was too shy to do it first. 

“I really like your hoodie,” Jaemin broke Mark’s thoughts away from Jaemin’s hand, “It’s very Spiderman-y.”

“Thanks. I’m a big fan of Spiderman,” Mark laughed anxiously. 

“I saw him earlier today actually,” Jaemin said.

Mark hummed in response, too afraid to talk knowing his shaky voice would reveal something he didn’t want to be revealed.

“He was bugging some dude about recycling. It reminded me of you when you were on Chenle’s neck about recycling,” Jaemin laughed. 

“I mean he’s got to save the world, right?” Mark responded.

“One turtle at a time, yes,” Jaemin smiled down at his shoes as they walked.

They finally arrived at the party, and it was just as he would expect any high school party to be. There was alcohol, drugs, people dancing to music. Mark had never gone to one of these parties, and he quickly knew why. He felt so uncomfortable squeezing through the sweaty bodies and he began to sweat himself in his hoodie because of the mere amount of bodies in the small room. Jaemin immediately interlaced his fingers with Mark’s, somewhat making him glad it was hot and sweaty in the house, so it would mask his clammy hands. 

“Do you want anything to drink?” Jaemin asked, racking through the beverages on the table. Most having some type of alcohol in it.

“I’m good,” Mark said. He needed to stay sober and alert if he were to sneak off and fight crime. It would be a disaster trying to swing around while drunk. Let alone fight anyone. 

“I’m not too much of a drinker either. I hate the taste of alcohol,” Jaemin said just before taking a shot of who knows what.

“Then why are you drinking it?” Mark asked.

Jaemin shrugged with a dazed smile on his face, “Just want to try something.” 

He took another shot before urging Mark to dance with him. Mark shyly swayed around not knowing how to adjust himself to the environment. Jaemin would just giggle at Mark’s awkward dancing and grabbed his other hand and swayed them both. Jaemin twirled Mark around causing him to giggle too. Their innocent ballroom dancing stuck out like a sore thumb in the midst of all the drunk dancing, but no one cared to take a glance at them. Jaemin spinned him around one more time and pulled him closer so their chests were centimeters apart. They ceased to sway to the music as they stared into each others eyes. The feeling of Mark’s breath hitting Jaemin’s lips made him glance down at his lips for a split second. Mark noticed this, but Jaemin quickly pulled away to take another shot. 

“Do you want to play beer pong?” Jaemin asked, “You don’t have to drink anything if you don’t want.” He quickly added once seeing Mark getting ready to decline. Jaemin grabbed Mark’s hand again and lead him to the backyard where there was a group of people surrounding a foldable table. Jaemin got one of the teams to stop playing and dragged Mark next to him. 

“You know how to play, right?” he asked.

Mark just nodded.

“Okay,” Jaemin smiled, “Try making it in. My sobriety is in your hands.” 

As the game progressed, Jaemin had taken six more shots and could hardly stand still while trying to throw the ping pong ball at the cups on the other side of the table. Mark was successful in making his ball into a few cups, but the other team had nailed almost each cup. Mark offered to take some of the shots after the first three, but Jaemin would instantly cut him off and drink it. 

“This is for you, Mark!” Jaemin exclaimed, bouncing one of the balls on the table, completely missing the cups and rolling into the grass. “Aww,” Jaemin pouted.

Jaemin was reaching for another shot, but Mark quickly snatched it out of his hand and took him back into the house. Jaemin stumbled beside him and wrapped his arms around Mark’s shoulders giggling as Mark sat him down on the couch. Jaemin made grabby hands at Mark signalling for him to sit down too, but when Mark went to sit next to him, Jaemin pulled his arms towards him so he would sit on his lap. Jaemin squeezed Mark into a hug and giggled into his chest. Mark was shocked nonetheless, but having Jaemin show this much affection towards him made his heart feel warm. Sure, it was only because he was drunk, but it was cute. 

“Mark, you’re cute,” Jaemin slurred as he played with Mark’s fingers. 

“You’re cute too, Jaemin,” Mark said, not reading too much into it. He was only returning the compliment. 

“Have you ever kissed anyone before?” Jaemin asked. 

“Once when I was like 5, but I don’t really count that,” Mark said.

“So if I kissed you right now, would I be your first kiss?” Jaemin giggled.

Mark’s heart pounded in his chest at the mere thought of Jaemin bringing up the idea of kissing him. He always imagined Jaemin’s lips to be soft, probably tasting of cherry chapstick or anything sweet. As Jaemin kept his head to Mark’s chest, his hand somehow managed its way under Mark’s shirt and started tracing circles at the small of his back, Mark couldn’t fight the thought that he didn’t want to kiss Jaemin. At least not here and not now. Jaemin was drunk, and who knows if what he was saying was true or only the cause of his intoxication. If Jaemin were to kiss him, Mark wants him to kiss him because he genuinely had feelings for Mark, not just because it was in the heat of the moment. Mark didn’t think he was capable of handling something like that. 

Mark’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and he took it out to hear the drowned out sound of Millionaire by Bruno Mars. Jeno was calling, and he knew why. There had to be some type of crime going on that needed Spiderman’s attention. Mark quickly lead Jaemin to the front lawn of the house and sat him down on the porch swing.

“I’ll be right back. Stay right here, okay?” Mark told Jaemin.

“Where are you going?” Jaemin slurred.

“Uh, to the convenience store. Do you want anything?”

“Bring some Xtreme Airheads. So we can share,” he giggled.

“Okay. Just stay right here. I won’t take long,” Mark said.

Jaemin just nodded and swung his feet. Mark ran off into the bushes to collect a backpack he had snuck there before entering the party. He quickly changed into his suit in a dark alleyway before calling Jeno back. 

“It’s about time you picked up. There’s some time of car chase,” Jeno said.

Spiderman sighed, “Easy. It’ll only take two seconds.”  
It didn’t quite take two seconds because the drivers were armed, but he was able to successfully stop the car and escape the scene with only a few dodged bullets and two criminals hanging upside down from a streetlight. The only thing on his mind was Jaemin. He was afraid he would be hurt while alone and without him.

Spiderman swiftly made it back to the party, swinging onto the front yard to see Jaemin was nowhere to be found. He found a single shoe on the grass by the gate and a puddle of vomit on the bush next to it. He knew it was one of Jaemin’s shoes, and he sighed. 

“I clearly told him to stay put,” he said before swinging off once again. He couldn’t have gone far in the span of twenty minutes. Especially since he was extremely drunk. He desperately searched for him, glad that he was able to cover more ground due to his webs. After searching for half an hour, he began to get worried. It wasn’t safe to be out alone at night, especially in a big city. He feared Jaemin would get assaulted or robbed, and it wouldn’t be hard to hurt someone in a vulnerable state like Jaemin was in. He was starting to become helpless when he spotted a boy crouching next to a bush.

“Mark?” the boy called out softly. “I know you’re in there, Mark.”

Spiderman couldn’t help but to quietly snicker at the sight of him. He was just glad to find him safe. He quickly dropped down next to him, startling Jaemin to the point where he dropped into a sitting position.

“Oh, hi Spiderman,” Jaemin grinned. 

“Do you need to get home?” he asked.

“Yes. Can you take me home,” Jaemin giggled, slowly getting back onto his feet.

Before Spiderman could respond, Jaemin wobbled forward and in an attempt to prevent him from falling, Spiderman opened his arms to catch the toppling boy. Jaemin rested his chin on Spiderman’s chest and gave him a sheepish grin. Mark’s heart fluttered once again.

“What’s your ideal type?” Jaemin slurred.

You.

Spiderman shrugged, “Someone nice, I guess?” 

Jaemin whined, “That’s no fun.” He got closer to Spiderman’s face with a gigantic grin on his face, “Do you want to know my ideal type?”

“And what is that?” 

“You,” Jaemin giggled into his hands.

Mark’s heart sank. Jaemin still had that massive crush on Spiderman. After the things he said at the party, he thought that maybe, just maybe, Jaemin may like him back. And by him. He meant Mark Lee. But as always, it was too good to be true. Someone like Jaemin would never like someone like Mark Lee. He was bland compared to Spiderman, just another ordinary high school sophomore. 

“You’re caring and cute and considerate and that’s just the c’s. I can do the whole alphabet,” Jaemin rambled. “I like how you’re a prune about recycling. I like how you teach me physics even though I’m thicker than a walnut. I like it when you scrunch your nose when you laugh. I like how you make me feel appreciated. I really like you, Mark.”

“Who’s Mark?” Spiderman quickly asked in a panic, trying to confuse the drunk boy whose arm was now slung over his shoulder.

“You, silly,” Jaemin poked his suit.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” he tried his best to keep his voice steady and believable. 

Jaemin stared into Spiderman’s mask as if searching for the Mark Lee he was so convinced was underneath it. He snatched his arm from around Spiderman’s shoulder which caused him to lose his balance. Spiderman quickly shot a web around his waist before he could fully topple over. Jaemin giggled and grabbed Spiderman’s hand in his, intertwining their fingers.

“Yup, this is definitely Mark Lee,” Jaemin said, swinging their arms. 

“No it’s not,” he ripped their hands apart.

Jaemin pouted, “I won’t tell anyone. It’s a secret. Shh.” He put his index finger on his lips and giggled.

“Let’s just get you home. Where do you live?” 

Spiderman supported Jaemin’s body weight once again.  
Jaemin mumbled something before his body went limp. Mark sighed and crouched down to grab Jaemin in a way that made it easy for Mark to carry him as he swung between buildings. He watched as Jaemin’s hair ruffled in the wind accumulated from swinging in the air, and how Jaemin’s cheek pressed onto his shoulder as he clung onto his body like an upside down koala. Mark rubbed his back to keep him calm as he made his way home. He quietly creaked open his window and maneuvered himself through the opening without waking Jaemin. He laid him down on his bed and covered him with a blanket before ripping his mask off and panting in panic. He couldn’t believe Jaemin had figured it out. He hoped it was only a delusional side effect of the alcohol. 

Mark changed into his pajamas and made sure to hide his suit well and deep in his closet where he knew no one would be able to find it before setting up a sleeping bag on the floor next to his bed. He watched Jaemin’s figure slowly rise and fall as he deepened into his slumber. It wasn’t long before Mark followed. 

\------

“Thank you for letting me stay the night,” Jaemin said the next morning as Mark was walking him back to his house. “I’m sorry you had to see me the way you did.”

“It’s okay,” Mark chuckled.

“But I still meant what I said last night,” Jaemin confessed.

Mark gaped at him, “Wait, so you really figured it out?”

“That you’re Spiderman? It was kind of obvious. To me at least,” Jaemin laughed. 

Mark stared at him in disbelief.

“I was kind of suspicious the day you showed up with the same water bottle I gave Spiderman, but then I told myself it was dumb because literally everyone drinks smartwater. Then the article you wrote, the whole recycling thing, the bruises, the spider hoodie--which was kind of tacky but cute-- and just little things you would say as Mark and Spiderman that made me extremely suspicious. It wasn’t until I heard your ringtone last night that I was sure. It was the same one Spiderman had when he answered the phone call in the middle of his fighting that one time,” Jaemin explained leaving Mark speechless. 

“I’m really that dumb, wow,” Mark gaped. 

Jaemin laughed, “so are you going to ignore the whole other half of the things I said last night?” 

Mark blushed at the realization of what Jaemin was talking about. 

“I meant it. I didn’t think I was able to tell you if I was sober, but I really do like you, Mark Lee, whether you’re Spiderman or not,” Jaemin said, locking eyes with Mark as he stopped in front of his house.

“I like you too, Jaem,” Mark said softly. 

Jaemin grinned and quickly leaned down to peck the boy on the cheek. Mark flinched in surprise which only made Jaemin laugh as he went up to his front door. Jaemin waved at Mark a little too excitedly, Mark only smiling and waving back before Jaemin disappeared into his house. 

Later that day they would unexpectedly meet as Spiderman was fighting against someone trying to rob a convenience store not even five blocks from Jaemin and his school. Jaemin had, as per usual, called the newspaper committee to report on the crime after it had been settled and cleared out by police. Jaemin had found a new appreciation towards Spiderman after finding out it was Mark. Not only was he fighting crime, but he was doing it all while being one of the school’s top students and balancing extracurricular activities. Mark really was a superhero. Super human. Spiderman didn’t even hesitate to walk over to Jaemin and the group of students to answer questions they had. 

“Since your president here is such a great person, I think I can spare a few minutes to take one of you on a little spin,” Spiderman said, causing a mini riot between the group of students fighting on who would be the lucky one chosen. 

“You,” he pointed to Chenle, “hop on.”

Chenle excitedly shook Spiderman’s hand as a thank you before hopping onto his back and sticking his tongue out at Jisung who was sulking in the crowd. 

“Hold tight,” Spiderman told him before shooting a web at the building across the street. Chenle’s screams of excitement and joy could be heard as they zipped through buildings and traffic a few blocks down, causing Jaemin to smile. 

So Mark may have dropped out of the school newspaper, and Jaemin may have stopped inviting him to parties--because frankly he never wanted to step into one ever again--but Mark and Jaemin had made it a ritual to meet at the ice cream parlor to study. Or so they said. They mostly spent the time they had together laughing, talking and getting distracted with each other to the point where Jeno would have to call to remind Mark about his superhero work. 

While Jaemin may have been infatuated with the fantasy and idea of Spiderman, it was Mark Lee who he had fallen for throughout everything. Mark was the person that made his heart race and his day bearable. Mark made him happy and made him feel safe, without the suit. It so happened to be a plus that he was able to be carried across the city’s night skyline in his arms.


End file.
